Falling has only a Moment, Not a Mattress
by doryfishie
Summary: The first time he saw her was in a coffee shop. The first time he talked to her was when she moved into his apartment building…the one right across the hall. The first time he knew her was in the middle of the park surrounded by the falling rain, dancing.


**Note: I wrote this in three parts: twice around midnight and once when i woke up. I felt insanely inspired, so I hope you like this cute little oneshot. Yes, it is AU...or I think it is...yeah...**

**Listening to: In the End (Linkin Park) (Cause I'm so emo!!)**

**Disclaimer: oh, i don't think I own Naruto...wouldn't that mean that I'd be drawing constantly, and since i don't...hmm...**

**Summary: The first time he saw her was in a coffee shop. The first time he talked to her was when she moved into his apartment building…the one right across the hall. The first time he knew her was in the middle of the park, surrounded by the falling rain, dancing. Because really, when you fall, there is no mattress, only a moment.**

./.

It wasn't a particularly notable café, just one that happened to be closer to his apartment than Starbucks. The coffee was the same, if given in slightly smaller cups, and the pastries were identical, if a bit more fresh. He only visited it when he was running late, and if Uchiha Sasuke was one thing, it was punctual.

So he really had no excuse for going there. If he were anyone else, he would have admitted he was hiding, but that would have been showing a weakness, and if Uchiha Sasuke was not one thing, it was weak.

But besides the fact that the dobe's whining was getting to him, Uchiha Sasuke was surprised to find himself seated at a small table at the window of an even smaller café watching people come and go at 8 o'clock in the morning when he could be at home sleeping. By his rational, it made no sense.

And yet, here he was. He had grown quite accustomed to observing over the years, and in the coffee shop he put his skills to good use. He watched as customers came and went, some appearing to know the employees (which he assumed were regulars) others seemed to be merely trying something different, or else stopping at the nearest coffee house simply because it was convenient. He never paid particular attention to any one body. They were all the same to him.

He was quite unprepared when he found his eyes drawn to an unfamiliar customer with unusual pink hair. The excuse he used to himself was that her hair was unnatural, and she was either crazy to dye it that color or mad to leave it un-dyed. Still, even after his mind had dismissed her as bizarre, his eyes still followed her as she ordered a ((insert coffee name here)), paid the cashier from her light-green wallet, waited patiently for her order, and took a seat at the bar where she eyed the pastry display with the look he had come to that recognize women on diets gave the fatty (and undoubtedly off-limits) treats.

Only when she had finished drooling over the doughnuts and taken a sip of her coffee did she catch his eye. Quickly shifting his gaze into a glare, he glowered at her for a few moments before turning to face the window to survey the passersby there instead.

./.

His apartment building was just like the café. There were other buildings similar to it surrounding his as well as throughout the city. The location wasn't the greatest, but he had seen worse as well. It worked for him, and that was all that mattered.

He could recognize the other occupants by face but knew none personally. The only person he really associated with had lived in the residence directly across from him, but Neji had moved out recently to a slightly better neighborhood that was conveniently closer to his girlfriend's building.

Being that there were several other rooms available on lower floors, Sasuke had not assumed that Neji's would not be filled for quite a while. The moving crew (which consisted of several rather…peculiar individuals and one somewhat large dog) therefore warranted a raised eyebrow when he opened the door to find them carrying large boxes into the previously unoccupied apartment.

As he was about to shut the door, his eyes caught on a glimmer of pink-hair that passed through the doorframe and into the hallway. When she saw him, he watched a smile bloom on her face. "Hey! I'm Haruno Sakura, Your new neighbor."

She held out her hand but he didn't take it. Uchiha Sasuke did not shake hands. "Aa,"

"Umm…" he watched as Sakura grew awkward in his silence, "You're Uchiha Sasuke right?" He only raised an eyebrow again. How did she know his name? It appeared that was enough to necessitate an answer because she did, "Oh, Naruto told me. He's um, dating my friend."

Naruto had a girlfriend? Come to think of it, he could remember something about a pale-eyed girl standing next to his sometimes friend and full time rival at one of the few parties the dobe had dragged him to. The girl was not particularly attractive, but yet, few girls were.

He sized up the girl before him. Her body was perhaps a bit more ample than some, but less than others. Her height could only be described as average, and did not subtract from her look. Her hair was certainly an oddity, but if used correctly, could become an asset. She appeared to He had seen the looks several men had given her at the coffee shop, and decided that overall, he concluded she would have more than a few admirers. The thought made him slightly…nauseous.

"Her name's Hinata. She's actually Neji's cousin, you know, the guy who used to live here. I don't know how they met, but I really think they're a cute couple." She was entering a rambling mode, the blush on her cheeks telling him it was caused by discomfort. Not wanting to listen, he made to close the door, "You're annoying."

Instead of gaping in shock like he expected, the girl's (Sakura?) green eyes flashed with infuriation, "You're one to talk Mr. 'Aa'." His only retaliation was a glare and a snap of a door shutting.

It was only then that Uchiha Sasuke realized that, for the second time in a week, he had done something for no logical reason. There had been no rational for him opening the door. If questioned later, he could say he was curious, but the strange thing was he hadn't been.

./.

It was getting late, even by his standards. Someday he'd have to learn how to sedate the dobe without leaving any marks. It was perhaps the only skill Uchiha Sasuke had yet to possess.

After a long day, all he had wanted to do was go home and take a shower. It had been insanely hot that day and the building he worked in didn't have air conditioners. He had been thinking of resigning since the beginning of summer, but had yet to go through with it. Uchiha Sasuke doubted he would be able to find another job that didn't involve creepy and/or stalker bosses/coworkers. It was the sad fate of all those born with his looks.

After leaving the god-forsaken building, he turned in the direction of his house, only to see one Uzumaki Naruto coming towards him. That sighting had been a sign that one: he wouldn't get to go home and two: he was going to go somewhere (if not willingly, then as a hostage) and forced to put up with the dobe's personality until an undisclosed amount of time.

That was how he found himself dragged across town to some new bar or another that Naruto had found in a newspaper. After only an hour of refusing drinks, he still ended up considerably less drunk than his companion. Forced to walk him home, Uchiha Sasuke found himself headed home at eleven, maybe twelve, o'clock.

It had started raining shortly after they left the bar, the ominous clouds hanging over the sky had been an indication that it would, and the humidity had contributed to his long day. Though Naruto whined and complained about how wet he had become, Sasuke only grunted, only caring about the time and contemplating why the dobe had brought him to such an out of the way place.

He walked silently, the patter of rain all around him masking his footsteps. The walk between his and Naruto's apartments had been one he had traveled many times at all hours, but it was still a ten-minute walk. Not that he minded, but sometimes the dobe complained.

It would have been nice, had he been someone else, to turn his head upward and let the semi-light rain fall upon his face. He had done so when he was younger, but age, maturity, and his reputation kept him from it now. So instead, he mutely enjoyed the feeling of rain rhythmically beating down on him and the smell only the rain could make. He had never enjoyed large bodies of water, or water in general, but so many things had happened between the curtains rain made that allowed him the ability to stand among them when they came, sensing the sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and touches if only briefly. Sometimes he envied those free enough to dance in the rain like she did.

He hadn't noticed his eyes had caught again on her pink hair, nor had become aware of halting before he looked down to see his feet not moving. But again, his eyes were drawn to her figure, and he watched her twirl in the rain. She wasn't graceful, nor particularly beautiful, but he saw her smile, and that more than made up for it.

This time, he had a reason. This time, there was nothing stopping him from completing his mission of a shower and dry clothes. The thing holding him back was not a reason. It wasn't rational, only a whim: a whim to stay, to watch as her hair blew around her and stuck in her face, a whim to watch her whirl clumsily, falling sometimes, around the trees, laughing and smiling at nothing, a whim to hold her gaze when she finally saw him, a whim to smile back, if less passionately, at her when she beamed at him.

And that was what he would call her. For however long she would stay in his life, she would be a whim, a quirk, an abnormality, an unexpected. He knew not how long she was going to be there, nor how long he wanted her there, only that, until then, she would be.


End file.
